Annalibera is ready to get loud

Just about two years ago the Des Moines group Annalibera sprang seemingly from nowhere, playing a knockout set at the 2013 GDP and shortly after that were one of the first acts announced for the 80/35 Music Festival. The group was quick to release a three-song EP and performed regularly, but the band’s long awaited full length album, “Nevermind I Love You,” is just seeing its release this week with two Des Moines shows.

Singer/keyboardist Anna Gebhardt said Annalibera tried to make a full length album back in 2013, but things didn’t quite come together.

“We intended to make the full length when the band became the band, and the band really happened during the process of trying to record the full length,” Gebhardt said while on the road for Annalibera’s current tour. “When we were making the first recordings of these songs, I really wanted to make loud music, but I had written a lot in my bedroom. It was tough to figure out how to translate from my bedroom to loud music. I had to get better at making loud music to make it work.”

Gebhardt grew up in a small Nebraska town, relocating to Des Moines to study music at Drake University. The singer said she didn’t fit in at the university, but taking a job as a barista at Mars Cafe opened her up to the Des Moines music scene. It was there that she met Ryan Stier of The River Monks, who invited Gebhardt to perform at a show with his band. It was at that show that she met Phil Young, who suggested collaborating together.

Stier and Young now play in Annalibera, guitar and bass, respectively. Initially Chris Marshall from Young’s band, Tires, stepped in on drums before Nicholas Naioti of Mr. Nasti took over the position.

“Nevermind I Love You” has been getting positive press online, including blogs in the UK and Latvia. In addition to the full length album, Annalibera is also releasing a limited tape, “loveil,” through the Warm Gospel label. Gebhardt said there are also several songs that didn’t make the final cut on “Nevermind” that might see release on an EP soon. After two years without much recorded music, Annalibera fans will soon have a plethora of material to choose from.

Gebhardt said she’s planning at least one more full band Annalibera tour this year, but she has to balance things against the other projects of Stier, Young and Naioti. When the band isn’t touring, she plans to decompress a bit and prepare for what comes next.

“I’m planning to take it easy for a little bit, I’ve been working really hard for the last year non-stop and I hope to have some space for my brain to pour out some of the ideas that have been brewing in there during this process,” Gebhardt said.